My Little Show Offs!

Mimi and Pops are going to be VERY surprised when they come home!  Cooper is a totally different kid than they left in May.  I think they're going to have their feelings hurt because he has become quite the Mommy's boy this summer.  Sam is crossing his fingers that Cooper will be stand off-ish with my parents.  Nothing makes him happier than seeing those two squirm. :)  Cooper is such a little ham!  He is forever doing something to get people to laugh at him, and usually he succeeds.  His latest favorite thing - dancing.  He dances anywhere he hears music.  Hilarious!

Lily has become such a little lady.  I haven't had much alone time with her this summer but really enjoy the one of one time that we do have.  She began taking gymnastics in March and LOVES it!  During the summer, I added an extra class each week.  I mainly did this just to keep her busy, but it has really turned out to be a wonderful decision.  Her main goal in taking gymnastics was to learn how to do a cart wheel. Finally after months of practice, she mastered it last night!  You couldn't have wiped the grin off of her face had you wanted to.  I have never seen her more proud of herself and she had every right to be!  She set a goal and succeeded!

I love these two kids so much!  While I'm excited about the new school year and routine, I am really going to miss spending so much time with Lily and Cooper.  It's so hard to believe that Lily will be 5 in less than 2 weeks and then a month later Cooper will be 2.  We are going to soak up this last couple of weeks together and then it's back to the grind. :)

Big Sister, Little Brother

We went to Jeff and Angela's for dinner Saturday night and Jeff took the cutest pictures of Lily and Cooper.  I found matching big sister, little brother shirts at Carters.  Jeff has my dad's green thumb and has a beautiful yard, so it provided the perfect back drop for great pictures!

Lily is a mature little girl who always wants to please.  Don't get me wrong, she does get into her fair share of trouble, but she saves it for mommy and daddy.  She has always been pretty timid but has really come out of her shell in the last few months.

Cooper on the other hand, is 110% boy, loves to hit, scream, and is pure ornery!  He gets upset when I leave him but as long as I am with him, he will talk and flirt with anybody and everybody.  People laugh at him all the time and we even have a hard time keeping a straight face when he is testing his limits.

I am so thankful for these two kiddos!  They are so much alike yet so different. They are both sweet as pie and love to love their mommy and daddy and everybody else in our family.  Lily and Cooper hugs and kisses are the best you can get! :)  God knew what he was doing when he gave me these two angels!  A girl and a boy...........the best combination ever!

My Papaw

 

My Papaw was one of the greatest people that I ever knew.  He was a kind, caring, compassionate, genuine, funny, Christian man who loved his family more than life itself.  Even though he lived in Oklahoma, I was fortunate enough to have him be a huge part of my life for 33 wonderful years.  He lived to see the birth of both of my children and had a bond with Lily like I have never seen before.  He came to Texas at least 4-5 times per year and would stay for 2 or more weeks at a time.  We always made special plans to visit him in Corsicana and he always managed to come spend time with us at our house as well.

Lily recognized his gentle spirit at a very early age and was always drawn to him.  In fact, 2 days before his death, we went to visit Papaw at my parents house and she was so excited to see him that she ran with her Subway sandwich in hand, jumped in his lap, and had a picnic right there in the recliner with him.  Her favorite memory of Papaw is him letting her ride on his walker.  She saw past his wrinkles, slow steps, and ears that couldn't always hear what she said.  Instead, she saw her playmate, her best friend, someone that she will remember and love for the rest of her life.  I thank God every day that she was able to know Papaw, even if it was only for 4 years, because he has influenced her life for the better.

There are so many things about Papaw that I will never forget.  I will always remember how his hands felt when I held them.  I will never forget the way he breathed or the way he patted my shoulder just because.  I will remember him every time that I drink a glass of tea because he put just the right amount of sugar and lemon in ours every time.  I can never look at a golf ball, golf club, or golf cart without thinking of him because besides family and God, golf was the next best thing.  I remember the excitement that I felt and the pride that he felt when I told him that I was using Thomas, my Papaw's name, for Cooper's middle name.  Every time that I called him, he ended our conversation by saying, "You really made my day.  Love you, babe."  He had a distinct way that he said my kids names, Lily and Cooper.   I can still hear those words today, and its been an entire year since I've actually heard them come from his lips.

One of the last conversations that I had with my Papaw was just 2 days before he passed away.  We were getting ready to move him to an assisted living center in Corsicana.  It was around the 4th of July and there were some kinks with paperwork and he had to wait a day longer than expected to move.  I asked him if he was disappointed that he couldn't move that day and he said, "No, honey.  That just means that I get to spend one more day with my family."  Little did I know the importance of those words then but I soon understood them.  He knew that his life on earth was coming to an end and even still, he wanted to soak up every possible second with his family.

I know that I loved my Papaw as much as any grandchild could love their grandparent.  It was very important to me to show him that I loved him and to take care of him.  I can only hope that my kids love their grandparents and take care of them the way that I loved and took care of Papaw.  He will forever live in my heart and in my memories........

  Papaw and Lily on her 2nd birthday

Papaw with Lily and Cooper

Our home away from home - AKA....Hawaiian Falls

 Sam and I bit the bullet this summer and bought season passes to Hawaiian Falls and what a great investment it has been!  The kids love it and it feels like a mini vacation for all of us each time we go.  The first couple of times that we went, I either made sure that it was at a time that Sam could go or I went with a friend.  I was a little nervous about figuring out the logistics of managing 2 kids, a bag of necessities, Cooper's backpack, and a cooler.  I'm happy to say that after 2 times of me flying solo, I have this thing down to a science!  We try to get there and get in line before 10:15 so that we can be sure to get a good spot set up at our favorite area, the wave pool.  Luckily, we have been able to snag a good spot early each time and it's been great!  Cooper loves the wave pool because he can just walk right into and play.  It's nice for me too because I don't feel like I have to constantly have my eye on him, which makes it a little more relaxing for Mommy. :)  Lily is a fish in the water and isn't afraid of any of the slides.  Cooper is easy and along for the ride most of the time.  He sits in my lap on a tube in the wave pool and lazy river and just chills.  Honestly, I think if the sun weren't so bright that he would probably pass smooth out!  There is a really fun kids area that we like to play in.  Lily has always been excited about this area and runs through it like she owns the place.  Cooper was a little slower to adjust, but I'm happy to say that he thinks he is king of the castle when we play there now.  Last week he started out slowly by going down the 2 "baby" slides.  He was a big fan and wanted to do it over and over again.  Today, I was with friends and decided to take him across the rope bridge to a bigger slide that winds down and around.  He LOVED it!  After the first time, he jumped out of the water and started running back to the top to do it again.  He rode the big slide a total of 3 times by himself today and probably would have done it 30 more times if he could have gotten across the rope bridge without me.    I think after spending 5 hours there today that we should probably take a little break!  I'm sure that we will be back soon.............like by Friday.

Good things come to those who wait.......

So I have been wanting a new couch for a while. Normally when I get it in my head that I want something, and get approval from the boss, I get it.  I convinced Sam that we should get a new couch in March.  We started looking but really didn't find anything that caught our eye.  I told myself that I wasn't going to buy something just to buy it, but that I was going to wait until the perfect couch came along.  Well, I am so glad that I waited!  We were at my friend Erica's on Friday night and her husband showed Sam a couch that they were wanting to get rid of.  Sam told John that he would take a picture and show it to his buddies and work, guaranteeing that it would be gone in a week.  Sam went over to take a picture of it and said, "Man!  Jamie may want this couch!"  I went out and looked at it and he was so right!  It was exactly what I was looking for.............right size, right colors, perfectly comfortable, and not a thing wrong with it.  John was excited to get it out of his garage so that he could build some shelves. :)  We needed to get our old couch out of the way and my other friend Erika just happened to be wanting a new couch as well.  On Sunday, she and her husband, Cecil, came over for breakfast and then Sam and Cecil played a little game of musical couches, and...........BAM.........I have a new (to me) perfect couch!  This proves to me that waiting definitely paid off!  The only payment I made was taking Erica and John's perfect daughter, Maddie, to see Cars 2 with Lily and then she came over and hung out while her mommy and daddy had a date night.  How lucky am I?!?!  Thanks Erica and John!

Family Vacation to Sea World

For family vacation this year, we decided to take a trip to San Antonio and Sea World.  I have been trying to convince Sam that we needed to do this for a couple of years, but he didn't seem too interested.  After a trip to Port Aransas last summer and visiting the aquarium in Corpus, I decided that he MUST go to Sea World.  He was totally fascinated by the shows at the aquarium and they didn't hold a candle to Sea World shows.  His reaction and excitement about Sea World certainly did not disappoint!  We all loved it, so much in fact that we are going back Labor Day weekend!  If you know my husband, you know that he must have REALLY liked it if he is going back because he is a bit of a tight wad! :)

We were lucky to have Kiki join us along with Sam's aunt, uncle, and their little girl. Lily and Madison had a blast together and we loved having so much time to visit with Keith and Valerie.  We took two days to do Sea World so that we could take our time and really enjoy everything.  I would highly recommend two days to anyone with kids that is planning a visit.  The first day we did all of the shows and then spent the second day at the water park, with a quick trip to feed the dolphins and to play in the Bay of Play for a little while. Here are some pictures from our trip!  Hope you enjoy! :)

Gonna give this a go......

I've been intrigued by my dad's blog about their trip to Alaska, and decided that maybe I should give this whole blogging thing a try.  I am really enjoying my summer off with the kids!  I always look so forward to summer time so that we can rest and relax and then by the time summer arrives, I wonder how in the world I have time to work!  We really do stay so busy but I love it!  We have kept the road between here and Mansfield hot going to Hawaiian Falls and we also had a fun trip to Sea World last week.  Other than a trip to Oklahoma City in July, we really don't have a whole lot more planned for the rest of our summer but I know that we will stay plenty busy and that it will fly by!  To the rest of my teacher friends and family, enjoy the rest of your lazy days of summer...........and to all my business world friends and family..............eat your heart out! :)